Valley of the Shadow
by Lord Diago
Summary: The next generation of the Dark Brotherhood
1. Chapter 1

The valley of the shadow

'...I walk in the valley of the shadow of death...'

-Psalm 23

The cliff face was smooth, with hardly any but the hardiest small yellow-flowered plants creeping out from nooks and cracks where wind had blown in some soil. The cliff was of a kind of porphyry, red stone freckled with white, and terminated in jagged spikes which caught and trapped the foam among them when the dark blue waves exploded through them.

On this beautiful if rugged cliff squat the rugged if austere bulk of Castle Metzengert, built of irregular granite blocks hauled out of a quarry a mile or so away by the seashore. The tiny Metzengert estate had long since lost its political independence and was now a privately owned scrap of land under the benevolent royal rule of the monarchs of Northpoint, a northern kingdom of High Rock. The flag of the Metzengert family had long been replaced by a simple one of black and gold. Two banners of the same colours hung either side of the grand portcullises, tapestries of a simple geometric gold pattern on a black background.

The storied political history of Castle Metzengert and its surrounding, though now totally depopulated, farms and settled lands were not however the main topics of discussion whenever the name Metzengert was mentioned. Rather a patchwork of legends and rumours of vampires or witches or some such thing was more likely to be encountered. Not that the subject was regularly broached. Castle and name had largely left the minds of the populations of the neighbouring settlements, duchies etc.

At this point in time the most interesting about the castle was its current tenants. Normally empty save for the rats and leather-clad skeletons that roamed endlessly through the halls and spacious salons and patrolled the perimeter of the modestly sized castle, Castle Metzengert was occasionally graced by the presence of more sinister nobility.

Adameus Claven reclined in a wine red armchair, glass of brandy in hand. This was his favourite salon. The room was dark and warm. A heavy red carpet cushioned his feet, and the small rectangular table before him was of a dark reddish-brown mahogany wood, the same as the side table between him and the right side of a couch. Straight ahead from him was the door. The black curtains and dark tapestries that hung about the large window behind him and the granite walls on the left and right were heavy and voluminous. The effect of the orange firelight from the oil lamps in bronze holders hanging from the ceiling on these colours was rather morbid, and the shadows were difficult to see against the dark grey walls and black tapestries.

Adameus had a taste for the grand and the macabre. The strong jaw, nose and cheekbones were perfectly shaped, and the lips delicate, but the face was clearly masculine, and there was hardness in the steel grey eyes. His short hair was a light brown, with stray strands of grey. The grey strands of hair were the only thing, besides his powerful build, that gave his age away as older than his more youthful face suggested.

A polite knock came on the door. 'Come in.' Adameus said. He was annoyed that his brandy drinking had been interrupted, until he saw who had entered. The young Altmer woman was a delightful sight, in a simple white silk dress that flatteringly embraced her figure rather than insistently clutching at it. The material played with the light as the surface of a pearl did, and her pale gold complexion took on a fiery glow when she entered into the orange light of the lamps.

'Kaligula!' he exclaimed with joy. His Silencer had finally arrived. 'My Lord Listener, I arrived with Speaker Chalsey. She is in the dining hall awaiting your pleasure.' Adameus rose from the armchair with a regal self-confidence. His Silencer Kaligula respectfully ducked her head as he approached her. She smiled though when he wrapped his right arm around her slender waist. Allowing herself to be pressed against his body, she lent ever so slightly against his form through his faintly glossy black robes. She knew he liked it when she did that.

They left the room together, and the wooden door closed itself with a gentle tug of magickal power as they exited.


	2. Chapter 2

The dining room was very spacious and had four different entrances, though one of them was the main entrance. Adameus and Kaligula came in through one of the side entrances, to find Speaker Chalsey reading a book and having a glass of water. She stood up when she saw them. 'Most honourable Listener.' she greeted him, bowing her head as she spoke. Adameus nodded back.

The walls were panelled with hickory, and a large marble mantelpiece with a wall of paintings of the historic Metzengerts. Carved with angels and cornucopias, it was beautiful if slightly out of place given the darker tone of most of the furnishings in the rest of the castle.

Adameus kept his arm around Kaligula's waist right up to their chairs. Adameus took the throne-like chair at the northern head of the table, so that he was in front of the marble mantelpiece and in full view of the table and grand main entrance to the south. Speaker Chalsey had sat in the middle of the table on his right, so she was two seats away from him. Kaligula took her place on the chair just on his right. He had personally pulled the chair out for her to sit.

Kaligula folded her arms on her lap and waited for her Listener to speak. Speaker Chalsey discretely put away 'The Human Anatomy, Abridged' and looked at the Listener's hands, which he had placed upon the table, rather than in his eye. For his part Adameus smilingly looked over the beautiful women he had been lucky enough to call his subordinates.

Kaligula was very young as far as Altmer go, scarcely at her second century, so that she looked about nineteen. She was of course taller than a human female, but her young age put her about three inches shorter than Adameus, who was about six feet tall. She was as slender and delicate as she was tall, with an accompanying elegance and grace of stature and conduct. Her perfect and noble Altmer features, river green eyes and honey coloured hair had endeared her to Adameus as one of his best Silencers.

Speaker Chalsey Terefane meanwhile was a Dunmer beauty, with silver hair elaborately pinned with ebony hairpins and lilac lips over smooth pale blue skin. Her black Speaker's robes were glossy and unfortunately hid her figure, although silver bands around her arms tightened the sleeves against her arms.

Adameus nodded seemingly to shadows in alcoves. Skeletons emerged, clad in dark purple, almost black leather armour, and approached him. He called for refreshments for the two ladies at the table, and a tea for himself. The skeletons dispersed.

Twenty minutes after the cheese topped wafer biscuits and glasses of Riesling wine arrived, a slow knocking came at the door of the castle. Adameus smiled as the doors were opened and a lightly built Khajiit slowly walked in. His black robes flowed around him, and he immediately caught the Listener's eye across the main hall and the dining table. 'Speaker K'Darji' he said softly, knowing the Khajiit probably heard him. Speaker K'Darji floated into the dining room and took a seat next to Chalsey. 'My greetings, great Listener' he said finally. K'Darji's Silencer, Ularis , stood silently outside the dining hall until invited to enter, and took a seat next to K'Darji. The young Nord hardly spoke at all over the next two hours.

Over those two hours the table became heavier with light food and drink as Imperials Speaker Herod and Silencer Nereidus arrived in an ebony carriage and took the two seats down from Kaligula. Speaker Chalsey's Silencer, Bellophron (a Breton), arrived and took a seat to Speaker Chalsey's right.

Speaker Silver, an Argonian, and Silencer Equune, an Imperial, took the last two seats, diagonally opposite each other at the bottom of the table.

Starting from Adameus and going clockwise, then, the left side of the table consisted of his Silencer Kaligula, Speaker Herod, Silencer Nereidus and Speaker Silver. On the right starting from the bottom were Silencer Equune, Silencer Bellophron, Speaker Chalsey, Speaker K'Darji and Silencer Ularis.

The table of ten was competed, and as the Speakers and their Silencers engaged in conversation with each other, Kaligula smilingly participated while holding Adameus' hand under the table, and Adameus smiled over all.


End file.
